1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tray structure for loading in and unloading a disk from a disk drive.
2. Related Art
A disk drive is equipped with a tray for loading and unloading a CD or DVD. The disk drive has guide rails and associated rack-and-pinion. The guide rails are fixed onto the opposite longitudinal side walls of the disk drive housing, and the tray has the rack fixed to its bottom. The tray can be moved along the rails when the pinion is rotated by an associated motor. When the tray is pulled out of the disk drive, the disk can be put on or removed from the tray. In case of loading the disk drive with a disk, the disk is put on the tray, which is pulled out of the disk drive, and then, the tray is pushed in the disk drive. When reproducing, the disk is raised by the traverse holder, and the disk is rotated at a high speed by the motor.
Referring to FIG. 3, a conventional disk drive is shown with its tray 1 pulled out of the disk drive (FIG. 3a; opening position); and with its tray 1 pushed in the disk drive (FIG. 3b; closing position). In removing the disk from the tray 1 in its opening position, we have experienced that the disk on the tray has no part accessible, making it difficult to take it off.
In the hope of facilitating the taking-off of a disk from the tray JP 7-254199A has proposed a xe2x80x9cdisk drivexe2x80x9d which is so designed that a disk may appear partly beyond one notched longitudinal side of the tray when the tray is pulled out of the disk drive, thus enabling a user to pinch and hold the projecting part of the disk by fingers for removal. Conveniently this arrangement permits access to one side of the disc for removal. In putting on a disk on the tray, however, the tray must be fully pulled out of the disk drive, and therefore, the space which needs to be allotted to the disk drive in handling the tray is relatively large, specifically, the longitudinal length of the disk drive plus the longitudinal length of the tray.
JP 10-143965A has proposed another xe2x80x9cdisk drivexe2x80x9d which is so designed that the top cover plate may comprise a stationary sub-plate and a rotatable sub-plate hinged to the stationary sub-plate, and that the rotatable sub-plate may be responsive to the pulling-out of the tray for rotating and opening the space for putting a disk on the tray, and may be responsive to the pushing-in of the tray for rotating and closing the tray. In the opening position the disk is partly exposed to be caught for removal.
This arrangement permits a disk to be loaded or unladed in the state of the tray being partly pulled out of the disk drive, but it requires extra space large enough to allow the rotatable sub-plate to rotate and rise upright on the top of the disk drive, thus preventing other device from being laid on the disk drive.
JP 4-12148U discloses a xe2x80x9cdisk trayxe2x80x9d having its forward part hinged to its major rearward part. The forward part is responsive to the pulling-out of the disk tray for bending, thus allowing the disk to project beyond the major part. Then, the disk can be held by pinching the projecting portion of the disk by fingers. Inconveniently the forward part must be raised by hand to be coplanar with the major part when pushing the disk tray in the disk drive.
One object of the present invention is to provide a tray structure of compact size, facilitating the loading and unloading of a disk from a disk drive.
To attain this object a tray structure for loading in and unloading a disk from a disk drive, which is equipped with guide rails to allow the tray structure to run along, is improved according to the present invention in that it comprises rearward and forward parts hinged together, thereby permitting the forward part to incline downward under influence of gravity when the forward part is pulled out of the disk drive, the forward part having guide pieces integrally connected to its opposite sides for mating with the guide rails when putting the tray structure in the disk drive.
When the tray is pulled out of the disk drive, the forward part is bent about the hinge by its weight under influence of gravity to provide the space between the disk and the inclined forward part, permitting access to the disk edge for pinching and taking off the disk from the tray with fingers. A disk can be put on the tray to push it in the disk drive, and then, the forward part is automatically raised to be coplanar with the rear part of the tray as the opposite guide pieces are slidably mate with the opposite guide rails of the disk drive. Each guide piece may have a curved end, thereby facilitating the mating of the guide pieces with the counter guide rails.
The forward part may have a notch made on its rear mid-edge, thereby facilitating access to a small-sized disk by fingers.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be understood from the following description of a tray structure according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention.